Warriors have pathway to 5-5 finish and playoffs

Hunter Follett, Adrian Banda-Contreras (52) and Carson Gilbert of Royal hang on as Wahluke's Daniel Corrales bull rushes the middle of the line.

Wahluke’s Gabriel Sandoval is so big at 6-feet, 270 pounds, that Royal’s Hugo Ledezma and Hunter Follett have to block him in tandem.

by Sun Tribune Editor & Ted Escobar
| October 13, 2015 6:00 AM

Wahlukes Gabriel Sandoval is so big at 6-feet, 270 pounds, that Royals Hugo Ledezma and Hunter Follett have to block him in tandem.

MATTAWA — To some Warrior fans it may seem that last Friday’s 61-8 loss to the Royal Knights was the end of the football season, but there is much more to play, and Coach Mike Foristiere knows he must keep his team focused.

It’s rare than any team starts a season with the two best football schools in its league, but that is what happened to Wahluke the past two Fridays. Actually, Connell and Royal are two of the best in the state every year.

The Warriors may be asking: Why us?

Why not? You have to play them all anyway. Now you get back to the work of building a program.

“Our goal is to make the playoffs and win a road game,” Foristiere said.

There has been only one road win in the two years Foristiere has been at Wahluke. The Warriors will probably need two this year to get into a SCAC cross-over game. Those games will be at River View and Burbank.

The remaining schedule gives the Warriors a good chance to level their final regular season record at 5-5. If they do that they will be in the cross-over plays.

The Warriors are 1-4 now and get Chelan at home this Friday and Ki-Be here on Oct. 23. Of the four opponents, Ki-Be is probably the toughest, but the Bears are beatable.

River View and Burbank are both beatable. Warden, the team Wahluke throttled, 63-39, has a 64-6 victory over RV, and RV has a 31-21 win over Burbank.

The Chelan Goats are winless this year, crunched in four of their contests. Their best effort was in the opener, when they fell, 38-34, to Brewster.

All of these records represent what should be motivation for the Warriors. They should get added motivation from the fact Friday’s game will be the homecoming game. They should want to please the alums.

“I will used homecoming,” Foristiere said, “but sometimes kids get caught up in activities instead of the game. Homecoming can be a blessing or a curse.”

One motivation for sure will be the return of key players who’ve been hurt.

How far the Warriors have come technique-wise in Foristiere’s second year is a question that will be answered in the second half of the season. There is no question about their toughness and desire, according Royal Coach Wiley Allred after Friday’s game.

“It was a very physical game, and both teams played extremely hard,” he said.

That was Foristiere’s take too. He said his boys never gave up.

“We competed, but turnovers and penalties will kill your momentum,” he said.

Foristiere noted that Marco Guerrero intercepted a pass and Reyes Ramirez and David Pineda recovered fumbles. The Guerrero interception stopped a Royal attempt to score with less than 10 seconds left in the half.

Foristiere added that Eathan Kinney and Jason Cruz had five tackles each. David Cruz was the second-leading rusher with 52 yards. Brandon Anaya led with 74.